2024-04-02 15:26:07
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan admitted that the ruling “Justice and Development” party could not achieve the desired results in local government elections.
“In the general and presidential elections held in May 2023, nine months after our victory, unfortunately, we could not get the result we wanted and hoped for in the municipal elections,” he said in a speech in Ankara.
Erdogan called the elections worthy of democracy. “The people conveyed their message, their will and their warnings to us through the ballot boxes.”
In local government elections held on Sunday, the opposition People’s Republican Party overtook the ruling Justice and Development Party for the first time in 20 years, after counting almost 90 percent of the votes.
In addition to Istanbul, Ankara and Antalya, new cities such as the industrial centers of Bursa and Tekirdag have come under the control of the opposition.